Special Agent Allie Black
by falling into heaven
Summary: When Ziva leaves the team, Allie Black is brought into replace her. Will the team accept her? And what is her connection to Tony? Tiva, Possible Tony/OC, don't know yet. For the REAL Allie Black. Rated T for sure.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey there. This story is for the real Allie Black, my best friend. She's awsome, and I love you, hon!

Also, this may end up Tony/OC, I don't know yet. So if I don't go down the tiva route, don't get pissy. I want to stretch myself a bit, and writing in an OC as a major character will do that.

CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is greatly appreciated, but flames will be laughed at and/or replied to. And don't upset me. Seriously. A few people were a little rude and - without reason - harsh on another story, and I jept my temper. I won't do it twice. There, you know my opinion on flames, let's leave it at that.

Hope you like it guys! Review please?

Anna :)

* * *

"_Tony, this is not my fault!" Ziva shouted across the bullpit._

_Tony glared back. "You let Mossad walk all over you, treat you like a piece of property! You shouldn't just let them tell you what to do!"_

_Her eyes narrowed. "Orders, Tony! They're called orders! I don't have a _choice_!"_

"_Everyone has a choice!" Came the immediate response._

_Gibbs glared at the two agents as he stormed into the squadroom. "What the hell is going on in here?!"_

"_Ziva's returning to Israel, because _Daddy _said he didn't like the fact that darling daughter David was getting just a little too close to NCIS than he liked." Tony spat._

_Her face twisted into a snarl. "You're walking a thick line, DiNozzo!"_

"_A _thin _line, Dah-veed!" _

"_What?"_

"_The line I'm supposed to be walking – it's THIN!"_

_Gibbs positioned himself between the two agents. "Hey! When did you find out about this?"_

"_Just now, MTAC," Tony hissed, still not tearing his eyes away from Ziva's._

"_I'm sorry, Tony," she whispered. "I cannot disobey my father."_

_He nodded, finally dropping his gaze to the floor. "I-I know…"_

_Gibbs moved back, and beckoned McGee to follow him – away from the pair._

"_Tony, I _am _sorry, really I am. But I cannot stay."_

_He nodded, closing the gap between them. "Thank you, Ziva."_

"_For what?" She seemed momentarily confused._

"_For being my partner, for pulling me through the bad times, for making me laugh on a Monday morning…"_

_She smiled sadly at him. "You're welcome, Tony. And… thank you also. You have shown me how to be a good investigator. And… Se mi hanno insegnato che cosa significa veramente qualcuno di fiducia, di essere un vero amico, e magari anche che cosa sia l'amore ... e forse un giorno io possa trovare la capacità di amare, come si fa."_

_He gave a wry grin at her words. "Lei è stato quello che mi ha insegnato circa l'amore, Ziva. Forse un giorno ti capita di uno di noi, forse no. Ma mi hai dimostrato che io posso, Ziva. E così si può. Hai la capacità di amare di più di quanto mai realizzare."_

_McGee frowned at his boss. "What're they saying?"_

"_I have no idea, McGee."_

"_Keep in touch, okay?" He offered his hand._

_Instead, she pulled him into a tight hug. "You couldn't keep me away if you tried."_

"_Oh, I believe you." He chuckled. "Y'know, this is the first time you've ever hugged me, Ziva."_

"_You never tried to hug me." She replied._

"_I mean it though, keep in touch."_

_She unwound her arms and unclasped her Magen necklace, pressing it into his palm. "This is my promise, Tony," she whispered into his ear, kissing his cheek carefully._

_He stood in stunned silence, as she disappeared into the elevator, out of the squadroom._

_Out of his life._


	2. Chapter 2

"Damnit, Leon!" Gibbs slammed his fist down onto his boss' desk.

Leon Vance looked up in annoyance. "What, Agent Gibbs? I presume there's a reason you're trying to destroy my desk?"

"You want me to do a speech at some goddamn dinner when I have an agent with a broken heart, an agent with no guidance and I'm down a damn agent!"

Vance stared placidly up at him. "Well, you're sure as hell not getting out of the speech, but I might have a solution to you're team numbers issue…" He pressed a button on his phone. "Cynthia? Please send in Special Agent Black."

Gibbs stared at the door. As it opened, a woman stepped in. Her body language was easy to read. Self-confident but eager to impress. She had morals, but was sure enough of her gut to be willing to break rules, if it got the right result. And by right, she meant the truth. Not some bullshit to please Vance and SecNav. He could tell it straight away, and he liked it in her.

He shared the same philosophy himself.

Her vibrant red hair fell in straight layers about a third of the way down her back, her powder blue eyes sparkling with determination and spirit. Her grey sotton pants were simple and elegant, and the white shirl was not fitted, which made it look even more tailored and beautiful.

"Special Agent Black, this is Special-Agent-In-Charge Leory Jethro Gibbs. Gibbs, this is Special Agent Alexandria Black. She's joined us from Quantico."

Gibbs' eyes rolled automatically, a sardonic smile staining his face.

She noticed it immeadiatley. "I'm not just an FBI agent, Gibbs. Prior to that I was LAPD homicide squad, after Phillidelphia PD. In Philly, I worked Narc."

He nodded. "Alright. LAPD. Better than Fornell's lot, anyway."

"I only met Fornell a couple of times. He was an asshole."

He smirked. "Fornell is a good friend of mine, although that better not leave this room, else your ass is toast."

To Gibbs' surprise, she expressed no remorse. "Well, I have a low BS tolerance. I heard you do to. So I won't bullshit you, so long as you repay the same curtousey."

"Alright."

Vance looked pleased with himself. "Agent Gibbs, you should introduce Black to your team. Agent Black, if there are any problems, do not hesitate to find me."

Alexandria nodded, her jaw set in determination. "Thank you sir, though I don't see any reason for a problem to arise."

Gibbs opened the door. "Alexandria, you comin'?"

* * *

"Sir, could you do me a favour?"

Gibbs glanced at his newest Agent. "Sure, so long as you quit callin' me 'sir'. It's Gibbs, or boss. Never 'sir'."

She nodded. "Sure. But please call me Allie. I hate the name Alexandria. People always think I'm greek and it's a pain in the ass to spell out over the phone."

"You got any greek in you?"

"Nope. A little spanish and a little Italian, but other than that, I'm an all-American girl. Except I don't wear nail polish or get pedicures," she said with a face.

He couldn't help smiling. "I think you'll fit right in, Allie."

Suddenly, she let out a small gasp. "Um.."

"What?" He asked immeadiatley.

"D'you mind if I go on ahead, boss?"

Confused, he nodded.

She rushed off towards Tony. Gibbs started to sigh at the thought of his new, - at a first glance _decent- _agent was flaaing for Tony's Italian, boyish good looks.

But what happened next surprised him. She clapped her hands over his eyes and a cheeky smile crept across her face.

He struggled vilolently, thrashing around but her hands remained in place. When she finally released him, he stood up, whirling round to face her, his face thunderous. But when he saw her, he threw his arms round her, hugging her tightly.

She looped her arms round his neck, her face shining.

"Alexandria!" He beamed.

She thumped him affectionatley. "For god's sake, Tony! It's Allie! Call me by my full name one more time. Go on, I dare you..."

He laughed. "I wouldn't dare, Dakota!"

McGee looked baffled. Even Gibbs wasn't sure what was going on.

Tony turned to the pair. "Guys, this is Allie Black. She worked Philly PD with me for a year and a half, and liased for a couple of homicide cases when I was Baltimore, and she was LAPD. Dakota, this is McGeek and Gibbs. What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I already met Gibbs. And Director Vance." She watched his reaction carefully. "I'm, uh-"

"She's your new partner, DiNozzo." Gibbs interrupted, sitting down at his desk.

Tony blanched. "Huh? My what?"

"Partner. Hey, just liked old times!" She grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes. She was clearly worried that he wasn't pleased by the news.

He spotted her concern. "That's great, Dakota! Honest. Just a... shock. I mean, FBI to NCIS? Last agent to do that didn't last more than five months."

She mock-glared. "Are you putting _me _in the same catagory as _Brett Langer?_ At least I haven't been written up for sexual harassment recently..."

"Well, neither has he..." McGee chipped in with a shrug. "Hi, I'm Tim McGee. Hey Tony! You can stop calling me Probie now!"

"Now way, Probalicious. A) Allie'd kick my ass if I called her Probie - no really, she would. And B) her nickname is Dakota, 'cause she's a North Dakota born girl, ain't ya, Al?"

Allie grinned. "Damn straight, DiNatzo..."

"Damn, you pick that up off Fornell?"

"Don't turn your back on your Stallion Italian routes, Tony. A least you _sound _Italian. Me, apparantly I'm Greek."

"_Non dimenticate mai la vostra eredità, anche se è a scapito del suo decimo grado matematica_," he nodded.

"_Amen a che il mio caro_," she replied.

"Aw, you called me _mio caro_."

"Well you are my dear."

Gibbs blinked. But before he had chance to say anything, his phone rang. "Gibbs. Uh-huh, we're on our way."

McGee and Tony stood up.

"Gear up, we got a dead sailor at Norfolk."

To the team's surprise, Allie was already clutching her field kit, jacket on, gun holstered, hat in hand.

"What?" She shrugged. "I like to be prepared..."

They all laughed, before heading off to yet another crime scene.


	3. Chapter 3

The truck pulled up to the scene in record time. Tony stumbled out, looking rather pale.

Allie quickly followed suit, stumbling stightly across the asphalt. They grimaced at each other, before the team reassembled by the body. The man was sprawled out, one arm twisted unnaturally above him, blood seeping his uniform from the stab wound in his chest.

Gibbs immeadiatley took charge. "Gunnery Segent Jake Thomas. McGee, bag and tag. DiNozzo, sketch and shoot. Black - observe." He stormed away to take relevant - or irrelevant, in many cases - witness statements.

"Great. Tony's got the camera." McGee grumbled, opening out his kit and placing markers down by various pieces of evidence.

Allie nodded. "What d'you want me to do?"

"Um, just put markers down by anything you see, I'll bag, 'cause for your first case it'll make Abby's chain of evidence log easier."

"I want to meet her."

Tony grinned. "You'll like Aby. Everyone does. Especially McGee..."

Tim glared at his friend. "Shut it, DiNozzo, else I'm gonna say something that'll really piss you off."

"Like what?"

"Like the reason you've got that Magen necklace locked in the third draw down in your desk, along with a knife and a set of photos."

Tony paled considerably. "That - That was not fair, Probie."

Tim had the grace to look ashamed. "I'm sorry."

She looked between them, sensing there was something going on she didn't know about, but knew the look on Tony's face well enough to leave it. "So, markers..."

Together they spotted, bagged and photographed any possible piece of evidence for Abby to process, along with various bits of rubbish that were probably unconnected to the crime, but the DNA on them could be used to tie a suspect to the scene at a later date.

Allie whirled round as a bright flash blinded her momentarialy. "DiNozzo, what the hell?!"

He sniggered. "Photo. As a momento of your first case..."

"And that momento had to be of my ass, I presume?"

"Well..."

Duckly interrupted them, followed by a sheepish looking Palmer. "I _told _you to read the map, Mr Palmer!"

"I did, Dr Mallard..."

"The wrong way up! I'm sorry for our late arrival," He said to Tony. "Jimmy here decided to get us lost. Again."

"That's alright Ducky. Gibbs is already getting statements."

"Of course - oh. And who is this, Anthony?"

"This is Special Agent Alexandria Black. She's the newest member of the major case response team."

"Akexandria, my dear. Lovely to meet you. I'm Dr Mallard, but you can call me Ducky, for rather obvious reasons. How I got my nickname is a rather interesting story. I was only a young boy, in Southern Scotland, and-"

"No time, Duck. What've we got?" Gibbs interrupted breezily, rejoinging the group.

He glanced at Allie. "Another time, my dear. And good grief, Jethro. I've only just get here! Give me some time to get aquainted with the poor fellow. Yes, well, cause of death cannot be officialy determined until I open him up, but I suspect exsanguination will be the most likely cause. Yes, I'd say that's a safe bet, my boy. Now..." He inserted the liver probe carefully, before taking a reading. "Time of death is five hours ago. Hmm, I'd say at seven thirty this morning."

Gibbs looked up. "DiNozzo-"

"Surveillance tapes, on it boss." He turned to Allie. "You comin', Dakota?"

She beamed. "Sure. Sounds good."

* * *

They located the security hut of the electronics compound, and entered in, badges on show. Tony's eyes quickly homed in on the young blonde receptionist, sat at her desk.

"I'm Special Agent DiNozzo, this is Special Agent Black, NCIS. Could we please speak to your boss..." He leaned in to see her badge. "Mariska?"

She fluttered her eyelashes. "Of couse," She peered at his badge. "Anthony."

"Please, call me Tony." He flashed her a dazzling smile.

Allie grimaced. "Please, let me just throw up..." she muttered.

"Ray? There's a couple of NCIS agents here to see you," the receptionist said huskily into the phone, her eyes never leaving Tony's. "Alright. Go on in, second door on your left." Mariska pressed a card into his palm. "Call me, if you need a hand."

"Ahem , are you trained-" Allie started to say, but was cut off.

"I might just do that, Mariska." He said, pushing Allie through the door. Once they were out of earshot, he grinned at her. "See? Valuble technique. Stopped her being difficult."

Allie smirked. "Oh really? So you didn't just want her number? Okay, seduction... I'll remember that. Might help with Ray."

He pulled a face at her before pushing open the door. "Ray? Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo, Alexandria Black, NCIS. We need your security tapes from last night and this morning."

The man named Ray glared at them. "Not without a warrant, sir. We have confidential information on this site and I cannot be seen to simply divulge that to anyone who asks."

Tony seemed exasperated. "We're not 'anyone', Mr..."

"Lewis. Ray Lewis."

"Well, Mr Lewis, we are federal agents who _will _get a warrant for them, if we have to."

"You will."

Allie sighed, and leaned forwards over his desk, weight on her hands, shirt falling just low enough for him to be distracted. "Mr Lewis," she said huskily. "We have a _murder _to solve. It's _very _important to us to get those tapes. If we have to get a warrant, we won't be very happy, and you don't want _that, _do you, Mr Lewis?"

He seemed hypnotised. "No... No, we don't want that at all. Um.." he cleared his throat and picked up the phone, staring straight down Allie's top. "Mariska? Can you get these Agents the security footage for last night and today? Thanks."

"Thank you, Mr Lewis." She straightened up. "You've been very co-operative."

They collected the tapes from reception, before stepping out into the bright sunshine.

Tony stayed very quiet.

Allie smirked. "Whaddaya know, Detective D," she laughed, using her old nickname for him. "Seduction is a very valuble technique. I'll have to use that more oftern."

"'S a good job we work together..." he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Y'know, you've spent too much time working with vice."

She chuckled. "Hell yeah."

Gibbs looked at the pair as they returned. "You got it?"

Tony laughed. "Allie got it."

"Damned straight I did."

"Well, let's get back so Abby can process and you three can do what you're paid to do."

Tony seemed confused. "What's that?"

He glared at the agent. "Investigate!"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Do you like Allie so far? Tell me what you think, please!

Reviews are much welcomed. Flames are not.

* * *

Gibbs led the way down to Abby's lab. Allie, Tony and McGee followed eagerly, all waiting to see Abby's reaction to the newest agent.

"Gibbs! Ah, you brought me evidence! This is why I love you guys!" Came the chipper voice from inside the lab.

Allie was surprised to find the voice came from a young goth, eyes bright and relaxed attitude.

"Wait, who the hell are you? What are you doing here? Why are you standing so close to Tony? Move, before I hurt you without leaving a trace!"

Allie took a sharp step to the left, and begun to speak. "I'll answer that in order. I'm Alexandria Black, the newest agent on Gibbs' team. I brought you evidence. I've known Tony for years, so I'm real good friends with him. That okay?"

Abby surveyed her for a moment. "Um... sure. C'mon, I'll show you what I do."

"What?" Tony looked thoroughly hurt. "How come you always take to people quicker than me?"

"Took me longer with Ziva," she said with a smirk. "But you're... you're like a hangover, Tony. You hurt like a bitch to start with, but you get used to it in the end."

"You're comparing me to... a hangover?"

She nodded. "Of course. Anyway, Allie, if you stay here, I'll show you how we run a GC and a Mass Spec. You lot-" she pointed to Gibbs, Tony and McGee. "Out."

They complied immeadiatley. No-one argued with Abby regarding forensics, her findings, or her lab. No-one, not even Gibbs.

"Abby, what the hell is a GC and a Mass Spec?" Allie asked, confused.

"GC stands for Gas Chromotography. Mass Spec is short hand for Mass Spectrometry. I'll run a GC/MS on the perfume... here," she plucked a plastic evidence bag containing a discarded bottle - clearly hand poured, as it was an unrecognisable bottle - out of the box, holding it up. "The GC/MS combines Gas Chromotography to tell me the isotopes and quantities of different elements in the sample, which I can compare to a calibration to work out what brand it is."

Allie nodded, trying to use her high school chemistry diploma to follow the complex explanation. "Oh-kay..."

"Right. So we take a 0.7mg sample of the substance..."

She used a pipette to measure out 0.7mg exactly of the clear liquid into a small circular flask.

"Then add some FV3..."

She added some liquid from a jar labled 'toxic' very clearly.

"Then 15ml of hexane... and a reasonable amount of deionised water."

Abby added it carefully, barely giving Allie time to keep up as she struggled to watch Abby's hands flying over and in various jars and bottles, pipettes sent cascading over the surface as she worked.

"And, we add some bromophalene, shake it up-" she did a little dance round the lab,"empty the bottom layer, and repeat until the bottom layer goes blue... You want a go?"

Allie nodded, and under the forensic toxicologist's watchful eye, prepared the perfume sample ready for testing in the GC.

Abby used a needle to collect 1ml of the final soloution, before inserting it into the gas chromotographer, and pressing start. "Right, now we leave it for half an hour, then compare the results to the database, and hopefully we'll be able to match the perfume to a brand, which can be used to match to a suspect's perfume."

"So... what happens in the GC?"

"The liquid is vapourised, and sent through thirty metres of coiled glass, with a carrying gas. It's collected at the otherside, and burnt back into place - complicated. Basically, we get a graph on the computer, which I run through the database."

"Ah," she nodded. "Okay, I'll go find the team. Thanks, Abby. It was real nice to meet you."

Abby pulled the surprised agent into a hug. "You too, Allie."

With that, Allie drifted out of the lab, and back up to the bullpit, to rejoin her new team.

* * *

"So, you alive still?" Tony asked her with a grin.

She smirked. "I'm just fine, thank you. Hungry, though."

"Here," he said, tossing her a chicken wrap. She smiled gratefully, taking a big bite.

McGee turned to her. "So, what brought you to NCIS?"

"Better pay and a sexual harassment complaint."

"Always knew you'd get written up eventually..." DiNozzo grinned.

"Not me. Some agent kept making remarks and trying to grab my ass. So after I broke his arm, I decided I should start looking out for a new job. Working with him would be difficult."

Tim laughed, but Gibbs came into the bullpen. "She's not joking, McGee."

He stopped laughing immeadiatley, looking at Allie in a new light. "Whoa, you're like- uh,"

"Ziva!" Tony finished, chuckling. But Allie could see the smile did not quite reach his eyes.

She changed the subject. "So, you get anything from the CCTV footage?"

"Nah. Perp wore a hooded jacket, and considering it's a navy base holding classified software and information, the CCTV is crap." McGee sighed.

"Look for a woman." She said simply.

Everyone stared at her.

"How'd you get tp that one, Dakota?"

"'Cause, it's a crime of passion. Think about it, if it was a Marine or a Naval Officer, they'd either use their training and kill him with their bare hands, or if they were to stab him, they'd go for once, either in the heart, or the stomach. But - Gibbs, can you help me demonstrate?"

To the rest of the team's surprise, Gibbs stood up, arms by his side.

"Okay, try stop me."

She launched forward, arm outstretched as though to stab her boss. Gibbs gripped her wrist tightly, and locked it behind her back.

"Okaygetthehelloffofmenow!" She gasped, rubbing her wrist after he did so. "Alright, so you just painfully proved my point. But-" She stepped right up to him, her arms behind her, as though to kiss him, before whipping one hand out, thumping it against his chest.

Gibbs nodded. "Good, but no proof."

"Fine. Gibbs, if you were real mad at someone, how would you kill them?"

"Contact gunshot to the head, snap their neck. Something-"

"That shows you're in control," she nodded. "Either you show you are more powerful than them, or you beat them to death. But a woman-" she thrust an invisible knife into the air, at chest height. "Wants to get _revenge."_

Tony nodded. "Makes sense, boss."

"Alright. Allie, Tony, go to his place. I want the entire place turned upside down. Find me proof of a girl. When you get back - McGee, take the computer. Emails, photos, everything. Tony, phone records. Allie, track his movements. Visits, anything."

With that, he stormed out, no doubt to go see Ducky.

Tony grinned at Allie. "C'mon. I'll even let you drive."

She caught the car keys deftly. "Thanks." Allie smiled, before changing the grin into one altogether more evil. "I haven't crashed in a few months, either!"


	5. Chapter 5

Beep. I'm back. Okay, thank you if you reviewed, boo shucks if you didn't. And yes, I stole the first bit from House.

Please review, it makes me smile!

* * *

Allie grinned at Tony as they stood outside the door to Thomas' home on the Marine base. "Bet I can get this door open in less than ten seconds."

"How much," he smirked in response.

"Um... ten bucks and dinner on friday."

"How do you know I don't have plans on friday?"

"If you did, I'd have heard about them."

He shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Ready... go!"

She bent down, scooping the key out of the plant pot, and unlocking the door. "Ten bucks and dinner, please."

He groaned. "Why? Why do I _always _fall for that?!"

She pocketed the note, a smile spreading across her face. "I have no idea, DiNozzo, but my wallet is glad you do."

He grumbled quietly. "Yeah, I bet it is..."

They scanned the living room quickly, surprised by the neatness of it.

"Definately a girl around..." Allie muttered.

Tony glanced at her. "How d'you know?"

"You kiddin'? Does your house look this neat?"

"Hmm, I guess you're right."

"Ya think?"

He smirked. "You sound like Gibbs when you say that."

"Mmm..." She let her eyes glaze over, gazing dreamily into the distance.

He looked alarmed. "Whoa! You... Gibbs..."

Allie burst out laughing. "You are _so _easy!"

"No, I'm sleazy. There's a difference," he retorted, enjoying the banter.

"You haven't made a pass at me, yet."

"I prefer my women to act like girls, Dakota."

She siddled up to him, until their bodies were about an inch apart, electricity sparking between them. His breath hitched as she pouted slightly, her eyes glittering. "This _girly _enough for ya, DiNatzo?"

He coughed, backing away. "No fair, Alexandria! That was cheap."

"I think you'll find I'm more than you can afford," she shopt back immeadiatley.

He rolled his eyes. "C'mon. We gotta actually search at some point."

"I got the computer."

Tony proceeded to rummage through piles of paper, boxes and drawers, looking for notes, photos... anything.

"Okay, since when did a young marine _not _have porn on his laptop?!" Allie called through to the bedroom, where he was rifling through drawers.

"Not since up is up and down is down."

"Figures. I got a photo!"

He was by her side instantly. "Oooh, she's hot."

A blonde smiled at them from the screen, white teeth perfectly straight, full lips parted in a genuine smile. Her long hair fell straight over her shoulders, her skin luminous.

"Model?" She asked.

"Nah, too intimate. This is a girl he knows."

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Allie drew her weapon at the same time as Tony. he signalled to him, stepping out of view behind the bookshelf.

"Freeze, Federal Agents!" He shouted at the shocked looking woman, who dropped her purse, arms up.

"What?! Wh-what's going on?"

Allie stepped out, her badge outstretched. "My name's Special Agent Alexandria Black, this is Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS. We're here to investigate Jake Thomas' death."

"What?! Jake... Jake is d-dead? Oh god! Oh..." She dropped to the floor, eyes squeezed shut, hands balled into fists, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh great. They always go all fetal position..." Tony muttered.

Allie shot him a look, before lowering herself to the woman's height. "What's your name, Miss?"

"I'm M-Maria, Jake's w-wife."

Tony winced internally. There had been no wedding band at the scene.

"Alright Maria. Well, how about you come down to NCIS headquarters with us, and we talk a little?" She offered gently. "We-"

She was cut short by two shots, fired in quick succession. Allie straightened up and was followed by Tony as she raced outside, gun raised.

A woman was laying dead in the street, two rounds to the chest. A young Marine was stood over her, face contorted into a sickened, angry face. As soon as he spotted the two agents, he pointed his gun at them.

"Stay inside, Miss!" Tony called to Maria.

Allie showed no sign of fear at a trained Marine pointing a service weapon at her. "Lower your weapon, Marine!" She shouted.

"Can't do it, Ma'am!"

"As far as I see it, you got two choices. Put it down, or get shot."

He faltered.

She carried on. "That's a Berretta M9, your service weapon. 33.6 ounces, 4.9 inch barrel. Makes it a little difficult to be accurate, but only a short recoil. You got a fifteen round mag, two rounds expended, so a maximum of thirteen rounds left, travelling at over one thousand one hundred metres per second. Only problem is, Marines don't really like the M9. Only 63% of soldiers have confidence in it - not good if you're shooting from that far away." She recited.

Tony was impressed by her knowledge.

"I've got a Sig Sauer P229, standard federal issue. Forty Calibre Smith and Western magazine. Twenty pound recoil, but I've fored it enough to get that exact. Thirteen rounds, none expended. Also, you have a slight tremor in your supporting hand. If it came down to reactions and accuracy, I'd kick your ass 'cause quite frankly, I spend too much time at the range. So do us all a favour, and drop the damn gun, alright?"

The Marine dropped his weapon. "That's my wife, Francessca Harris. Ma'am, I gotta tell Maria something. Cuff me, arrest me. But let me say one thing, okay?"

Tony opened his mouth to object, but Allie got in first.

"Alright. Maria!"

Maria Thomas appeared at her door, and gasped at the scene in front of her. "Jonathan! You _shot _Francessca?!"

"Fran was trying to convince Jake to have an affair with her. She killed him, Maria. It was her. I got the proof on my phone," he added for the agents' benefit. "I was gonna go try help him, but I'm trained. I knew he was gone. The best thing I could do for Jake was the same thing he'd do for me. Kill the bitch that murdered him. But Maria - Jake loved you, alright? More than you can ever imagine. He'd never even _considered _taking Fran up on his offer. I swear to you, he loved you."

Maria nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, Johnny."

"Alright." Tony interrupted, cuffing Jonathan's hands behind him. "You're under arrest for the murder of Francessca Harris."

Allie led the way back to the car, followed by Tony, Maria and Johnny. "Well. I think we just cracked this case."

"Gibbs is gonna kill us."

"How come?"

He glanced at her. "Shootings mean paperwork. We're so pulling an all nighter."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, I want you to picture Abby's voice all gravelly, the way it was during s2 ep01, when she was talking to Sandy. I love her like that! Review?

* * *

Gibbs looked startled to see Allie and Tony return with a Marine and a woman, and it was the marine in cuffs.

"DiNozzo! The hell's going on?!" he demanded.

"Uh, Gunnery Sergant Jonathan Harris shot his wife Francessca, who killed Jake Thomas. This is Maria, Thomas' wife."

"Shot his wife?"

Allie shrugged. "We were inside, they were out. We arrested him as soon as we heard shots."

Gibbs frowned. "Did he resist arrest?"

Tony glanced at his partner. Allie shook her head. "No, he dropped his weapon and put his hands straight up." Although Johnny's career in the Corps was over, there was no need to extend his sentence. Besides, it wasn't exactly like he'd shot at her or anything. If he had, he'd be lying on Ducky's table, not stood in the middle of the bullpen.

"Alright. Maria in the conference room, Harris in interrogation room one. I'll be through in a minute."

Allie led Johnny through to the interrogation room.

He paused once insode. "Is this being recorded now?"

She shook her head.

"Okay. Why did you cover for me? I killed a woman, and pointed a gun at you. You should be trying to drag me down!"

Allie sighed. "You're not a bad guy, Gunny. You were doing what would be awarded a medal on tour, and I'd have done the same thing for my friend. Off the record, I think you did the right thing. But if you tell anyone that, I'll deny it, and you'll go down."

"Tell anyone what, Ma'am?"

She grinned. "That's it! And please, call me Allie. Ma'am makes me sound like a dominatrix, or something."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Get those thoughts out of your head, Johnny! And no, I don't like kink."

Before he could reply, Gibbs barged into the room. "Special Agent Black, what are you still doing here?!"

"Tony's interviewing Maria, and I was bringing Harris here. Like you asked."

He glared at her. "Hey! Go find something to do!"

She left the room, but only to enter observation next door. She hoped Gibbs went easy on the Marine. He was a nice guy, and clearly a good Marine. He didn't deserve all this.

She pulled out her cell, and called McGee. "Hey, Tim. Can you go through Harris' computer and cell? Yeah, I want to find out wether he was telling the truth about his wife."

"_Where are you?"_

"Observation. Gibbs is interrogating."

_"Poor guy. Alright, I'll get Abby to help me. And Allie?"_

"Yeah?"

"_"It's good to have you on the team. And I haven't seen Tony this happy in a long time."_

"Thanks, Tim. Alright, I'll check in soon." She smiled to herself as she hung up. McGee was sweet, if a little naive. And she needed to speak to him about this whole Tony/Ziva thing. She didn't know what was going on, what had gone on, or why she felt the somewhat irrational urge to jump on a plane to Tel Aviv and smack the hell out of her for hurting Tony like this.

Allie didn't do emotions, and this day was full of them. Boy, she was gonna need a drink by the end of the shift.

* * *

Abby hugged McGee tightly as he entered the lab. "Hey, Timmy!"

"Abs, we gotta check through Harris' stuff to see if Francessca really was the one that killed Thomas."

"Nice to see you too," she smirked, bumping her hip with his.

He blushed, but handed her the caff-pow he was clutching anyway. "Here."

She kissed his cheek. "So, what've we got?"

_Three hours later..._

"Allie is gonna be so pissed." Tony sighed, after McGee explained the situation.

"I'm more worried about Gibbs." Abby said pointedly.

He shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Gibbs will just want to keep looking. Allie stuck her neck on the line to help Johnny. I see why - he's a decent guy, really thought he was doing the right thing. She should have shot him when he pointed a loaded gun at her, but she didn't. She talked him down."

"He _what_?!" McGee exclaimed. "But she said-"

"Yeah, I know, McGee. That's the thing. She knows he shot his wife for killing his buddy. I know it too. But this... argh!"

Abby groaned. "Tony, we cannot find a single hint of her wanting an affair. Not a website she visited, an email she sent, a photo she took... _nothing_. If Francessca was trying to hit on Thomas, she's damn good at hiding it."

"Wait..." Tim said slowly. "What about _CheatOnMe_? The program just advertised to erase certain files or website histories that contain certain themes?"

"...But still leaves a fragment in the hardrive! Impossible to find, unless you know _exactly _what you're looking for! Oh, you are a _genius, _McGee!" She grinned.

Tony backed away. "I'll leave you guys to it. If you find something, call All, okay?"

They didn't reply.

* * *

Allie's cell vibrated on her belt. She answered it quickly. "Black."

"We got her!" Abby exclaimed down the phone. "Emails to Thomas, the last of which says _If I can't have you, no-one will_. We got them on Thomas' computer, as well. If we can match her perfume to that from the scene..."

"We've got her."

"Shame she's dead." Came McGee's voice from the background.

Allie glared at the window. "Hey, he did us a favour!"

Abby hissed something away from the phone, before returning. "Sorry, McGee has a serious case of foot in mouth disease, and - yes! GC comes through again!"

"Huh?"

"Fran's perfume! It's a match! Plus, Ducky brought me her clothes, and - oh shit, get me Gibbs, now!"

"Abby, slow down." She rushed through to the interrogation, the phone still at her ear, unable to understand what the hell the forensic toxicologist was saying. "Uh, Gibbs? Sorry to interrupt, but Abby has something important..."

His eyes narrowed as he followed her out of the room. "Rule twenty two, Black. Never _ever _interrupt me in interrogation." Without taking his eyes off hers, he answered the phone. "What, Abs?"

Down in the lab, Abby's eyes widened at his tone of voice, and she passed the phone to McGee, who passed it back without speaking. "Uh, In Fran's clothing... she had a knife. Thomas could have been defending himself."

Gibbs growled "Could have?!"

"Well, no-one can determine what a person was doing with the knife if they didn't touch anything with it, just that they had it, so-"

"Abs!"

"I think you should get him to plead self-defense, Gibbs. Fran murdered Thomas, we're sure of it. We've got enough to keep the DA happy."

Gibbs nodded. "Alright," and hung up the phone, and resumed glaring at Allie.

To his surprise, she didn't falter under his steel blue torture. She merely... _smirked_?

"Told ya so." she grinned, walking away.

Gibbs watched her, shaking his head. She was gonna be an interesting one, alright.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry! This has been on a backburner. But I'm updating now. My creativity's gone. Totally gone. It SUCKS!

Review?

* * *

Friday came round quicker than Tony anticipated. Sure, it wasn't like Allie had asked him out on a date - in fact, she'd just conned him into buying dinner. But it didn't change the fact that he hadn't been out anywhere with a girl - not even Abby - since Ziva had left. He didn't know if it was a bad thing or not, but he was a little excited.

Bearing in mind his tendency to break rule twelve, not a good thing at all.

"Morning, McGoo!" He greeted his co-worker with a grin.

McGee regarded him with suspicion. "What did you do, superglue my keyboard? Again?"

"Nah. It's friday. I like fridays."

"What, you got a hot date tonight?"

Allie chose that moment to dump her hippie style bag on her desk. "Yup. He's buying me dinner," she informed him with a grin.

"Whoa!"

"It was a bet, Probie..." Tony halfway defended, before opening his email.

_Inbox: You have no new messages._

"Anything?" Tim asked quietly.

Tony shook his head, looking defeated. "I'm gonna go see Abby."

Allie waited until he had left the sqadrrom, before sitting on the edge of Tim's desk. "What's going on?"

He sighed. "When Ziva left, she promised to keep in touch. Gave him her Magen - Star of David - necklace as proof. But she hasn't contacted him once. He emails everyday without fail, and once a week gets Abby to try access her phone. But he doesn't know what's happened. And... and he cared about her, Allie. He cared a lot."

She nodded. "I know. When he told me that Kate died, it was a few months after, and he said she was a good person. And from the emails, I figured he was in love with her. I know dinner tonight is against a rule - is it thirteen?"

"Twelve."

"Close enough. But I figure it can't be worse than having him mope around the place, waiting for what will never happen." She sighed, returning to her desk.

McGee nodded. "Yeah... Yeah, I guess so. And All?"

She spun round. "Yeah?"

"He's happier with you here. This is the best he's been in a while."

Allie smiled to herself. "Thanks, Tim."

* * *

"Hey, Abs. You got anything?"

It was Tony's usual friday morning greeting for his friend.

She shook her head. "No. Nothing from the phone. I've got a bit of chatter about an operation in Saudi Arabia, but nothing to suggest she's involved."

Abby hugged him tightly. "She'll be okay, Tony." She comforted him in her gravelly tones. "You know what she's like."

"Yeah, I do." He whispered. "And it scares me to death. She needed protecting, Abs. Mossad... They don't..."

"She'll be fine."

Ducky wandered into the lab. "Good morning Abigail, Tony. Anything?"

"Not yet, Ducky." She sighed.

Tony rubbed his forehead. "God, this is gonna kill me! D'you reckon if Abby tries to-"

"Tony if we fly out to Tel Aviv, sit out with banners saying 'bring us Ziva' and sing Kumbaya, they will not tell us a thing, alright? The best thing we can do is hope. That's all we _can _do." Abby said, exasperated.

He nodded numbly. "I-I guess. I'm sorry, it's just..."

"Hard." Ducky said shrewdly. "Well, I best be off. There's a young man on a table downstairs who needs me. Goodday."

They grinned at the ever-British doctor.

Abby turned to Tony. "Now, you can either help me clean this lab, or get back upstairs. Which is it gonna be?"

"I'll help," he said with a lazy grin.

* * *

By the time seven rolled around, everyone was ready to go home. There had been nothing but cold cases for the major case response team to work on, so they had spent the day making nuisances of themselves and helping Abby sort out her lab.

"You ready?" Tony asked Allie, glancing at his watch.

She nodded, picking up her bag and jacket. "Sure. Where are we going?"

"Little Italian cafe I know. Nice place, good food."

Allie smiled. "And we can speak the language."

"Actually, the guy that owns it is Irish, but still..."

She had to laugh at that. "Well, lucky for you I happen to speak a 'lil gaelic..."

McGee glanced at the pair. "Have fun, and don't get too wasted..."

"Oh, we will!" She called over her shoulder cheerfully.

For the first five minutes, the car ride was only punctuated by Allkie flicking through the radio stations, before declaring finding a decent one a bust, and flopping back against the seat. She grinned at her friend. "So, we're finally going for that drink you promised..."

He blushed. "You'll never let me forget that, will ya?"

"You stood me up, mio caro."

"I'm sorry. It's just... things with me never ever work out well, okay? I didn't want you getting hurt, All."

"Do me a favour, and let me decide what'll hurt me, will you?"

Tony smiled at her, eyes softening. "Yeah. I might just do that."

They pulled up to the small Italian cafe as the dark was beginning to set in.

The waiter greeted Tony immeadiately. "Hey, Tony!" His irish ccent was thick, making him sound just a little drunk.

"Mac, hey. This is Allie. Can we get two of the usual, please?" He saw the man's questioning look. "I lost a bet, so I owe her dinner."

Allie's eyes raked over Mac's broad shoulders, shaved head and scar across his cheek. "Army?"

"British SAS. How d'you know?"

"My brother is an MP. He looks like an exadgerated version of you..."

Mac chuckled at this. "Mmm, yeah. MP's are as tugh as Russian Army boots, that's for damn sure..."

"Ah, Don's a pushover. Well," she frowned. "Except for when I accidently killed his goldfish when we were teenagers. I still have the bruises, I swear!"

Tony laughed. "I remeber you telling me about that. I found it quite funny, actually."

Allie glared at him. "Okay, I was gonna foot half the bill, but it's all on your card, now!"

"Ah, I'll just expense it. Heh, see what Gibbs 'nd Vance'd make of _that_!"

Mac grinned again, before disappearing off and returning with the drinks.

Tony held his glass up, clinking it against Allie's. "Here's to your new life at NCIS..."

"...Long may it last!" She finished with a smile.


	8. Chapter 8

News, folks. I have a beta for this story! Meet the REAL Allie Black folks, someone who doesn't (to my horror) watch NCIS, but reads my stories and rocks at English. _[Al- I did actually watch the one where Ziva did all the knife-throwing... now THAT, was impressive]_ My best real life friend, and therefore the perfect person for the role. _[Al-=D x]_

Allie - play nice. No teasing cos you know what's gonna happen! Hehe.

Review? Anna :)

* * *

When Allie woke up, she felt like her head weighed a ton. She remembered tequila... lots of tequila...

She sat up, glancing round at the unfamiliar surroundings of the room. Her walls were painted a hunter green colour, and these were some sort of cream. The bed-sheets were brown, as were the curtains. Hers weren't. She briefly wondered just how much alcohol she'd consumed.

When she glanced down and recognised the sleeping form next to her, she knew. A _lot_.

"Tony! _Tony! _Wake the _hell _up!" Allie smacked him in the face with a pillow.

Tony opened his eyes, then closed them quickly. "Urgh... how much did we drink?"

"Enough for me to be unsure whether or not we had sex last night." she snapped, clutching the sheet to her chest tightly.

He raised an eyebrow as he took in both of their lack of clothes. "Oh-kay. Gibbs is totally gonna _kill _us." He stepped out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants. "C'mon."

"What?" She caught the t-shirt he threw her, pulling it over her head, brushing her fingers through her long hair.

"Breakfast, Dakota. You gotta eat..."

* * *

Allie rested her head against Tony's kitchen counter. "Tony..."

He glanced at her, finishing his last bite of toast. "Yeah?"

"Did..." She faltered, embarrassment and confusion flickering across her face. "Did we...?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

"I don't _do _this, Tony!" She sighed. "I don't get drunk and sleep with people. I don't wake up the next morning and not remember what happened. I don't get scared because I have no idea what happened with my own body..."

He hugged her, stroking her hair gently. "Dakota... you don't need to be embarrassed, okay? It's me, for Godssakes! I'm the one who lent you clothes when that drunk threw up on you on our first case together, remember?"

She winced at the memory. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me 'bout that."

Tony backed away, grabbing his shirt from the back of the couch where it had apparently been discarded the previous night. "Get dressed, I'll drop you home."

Allie stood up warily, unsure about her balance after the stinking headache she'd just acquired blurred her vision. Tequila... it always did have a habit of coming back and biting her in the ass.

* * *

"Allie." McGee greeted her Monday morning. "How was your weekend?"

"My dinner with DiNozzo ended in tequila..." She grumbled, sitting down at her desk and taking a gulp of water from the bottle clutched tightly in her hand.

He raised his eyebrow. "Three-day hangover? Must've been some bottle..."

"You have _no_ idea..."

"I don't think we want to, Special Agent Black." Gibbs informed her, sitting down at his desk.

She straightened up, tapping at her keyboard. "Sorry boss. Won't happen again."

He didn't bother to look up at the Agent as he answered her. "Better not."

Allie rubbed her forehead. _Great start, Al. Get drunk and possibly sleep with a co-worker, show up to work with the tail-end of the hangover from hell, piss off the boss and all in my first month. _She brushed a strand of red hair off her face as Tony strode in, looking... fine. Anger bubbled inside her. Why the hell wasn't he feeling like hell?! Why was he not wishing he could crawl under a rock and die in peace!?

"What's wrong with you?" He asked quickly.

"Hangover, Tony."

"Still? You really can't handle your liqueur, can you?"

She shot him an annoyed look. "I think we've already established that."

Tony tapped quickly at his computer, his face lighting up as he clicked on his inbox. It quickly fell again, as he read the email.

_From: Ziva David ( )_

_To: Tony DiNozzo ( )_

_This is an automatic email. Please do not respond._

_This email address has been cancelled. Any emails sent to this address after 2000 GMT today will be automatically deleted._

McGee scanned it silently over his teammate's shoulder. "I can get Abby to-"

"No point, Probie." He said quietly. "She doesn't want to be found."

The team watched as Tony rose from his chair, and headed for the men's room. Allie stood up to follow, but Gibbs held up a hand to stop her. "Black, he just needs to work some stuff out. He'll be fine." He didn't feel the need to add 'I hope'. It was obvious anyway.

She glanced at him. "I know, Gibbs. But he's my partner, and my friend. I need to talk to him."

* * *

Tony looked in the mirror to see Allie leaning back against the wall behind him. "Ziva used to do this."

"Oh yeah?" She replied, quirking an eyebrow. "And what would Ziva do right now?"

"Give me a crappy pep-talk and complain when I didn't listen."

Allie rolled her eyes. "Dumb woman. She shouldn't have expected you to. Me? I'm gonna tell you a few facts. And you are gonna listen." She crossed her arms. "Everyone makes choices. Ziva chose to accept the fact that her liaison had been terminated. She chose not to keep in touch. She chose to break her promise. I chose to accept the job at NCIS. McGee chose to stick behind you whatever. Abby made the choice to help you track her down. Vance made the choice not to kick your butt out of this agency claiming you need therapy. And Gibbs? He made the choice to keep you in the field and on this team because he _knows _that you can get over this. Right now, you are being selfish."

Tony was taken aback by her suddenly angry tone.

"All these people want to help you... care about you... and you are sitting around, moping for some woman that broke your heart! Can't you see? We _care_, Tony! And you _ignore _that, just wishing she'd come back?"

He paused, a thought hitting him. "All of you? Or just _you_?"

She faltered. "I-"

But her efforts at denial were stopped abruptly as Tony approached her, and looped his hand round her neck, the other settling at her waist. His lips crushed down onto hers with all the emotion he'd been building up since Ziva left, trying to empty it through Allie. She responded quickly, wrapping her arms round her neck as their mouths moved in synchronisation, her mind blocking out everything but the moment they were in.

She'd made her choice to help him. And he'd made his choice to accept.

* * *

A/N: So? Do we like an Allie/Tony relationship? Let me know! Allie's now gonna kill me for getting her drunk. She doesn't get drunk and have random sex in real life, folks!! Hehe.

_Al- I won't kill you, but only because you promised that she's not gonna do this again;P And no, just to reiterate for Anna's readers, I do NOT get drunk and have random sex, as she so subtly put it, haha;)..._

_AHYwhoo, I'm loving the Allie/Tony thing=D so far, they seem to really connect, on some sort of tough-love emotional level which is quite hard to understand, but it creates tension and fits both of their characters really well. Did that even make sense? Oh well, I know what I mean...=) xx_

In case you hadn't noticed, Allie is a little bit mental. Bless.


	9. Chapter 9

Yess I know, I know. It's been forever. Allie (editor, not character) has been nagging me to get on with it, [Allie- this is true] but it's hard! My muse disappeared!! But here's a short chapter, till I figure out what I'm doing. And I'm guessing Allie's gonna moan a bit about me not updating, so someone sympathises... [Al-I won't moan now, I'm being lovely and supportive..my apologies for nagging, I don't want to sound like my mother- a truly horrific thought...s]

If you like, dislike, love or hate it, review. I want to know!!

Anna (+ Allie [ yay=D] )

* * *

_But her efforts at denial were stopped abruptly as Tony approached her, and looped his hand round her neck, the other settling at her waist. His lips crushed down onto hers with all the emotion he'd been building up since Ziva left, trying to empty it through Allie. She responded quickly, wrapping her arms round her neck as their mouths moved in synchronisation, her mind blocking out everything but the moment they were in._

_She'd made her choice to help him. And he'd made his choice to accept_

Allie pulled away abruptly, running a hand through her hair as she shook her head frantically. "Tony... We can't do this!"

He tried to steady his breathing as he faced her, green eyes blazing. "And why not?"

"Because I'm your damn rebound!" She exploded, arms crossed tightly across her chest. "I'm not gonna be something to take your mind off the love of your life pissing off to Israel!"

He was shocked by her harsh words - for one thing, she didn't swear. And for another... Allie had never been this emotional round him. She'd always been the free-spirited Italian girl in a man's world and loved it. As the only female Detective on the Philly PD Narcotics squad, she had taken it in her stride, matching the men insult for insult, not taking jack.

"Tony... if you want to be with me, fine. But I won't be with you unless you want me for _me_, not because I remind you of some girl you used to be in love with, okay?"

He watched Allie leave, her red hair falling round her shoulders, eyes glistening with barely suppressed tears.

What had he done to deserve all this? [Al- hmmmm || Anna - karma, baby!!]

* * *

Allie leaned her forehead against the mirror, breathing steadily, willing herself not to cry. She liked Tony, she really did, but she meant what she said. To be honest, she _hated _Ziva. She'd promised to stay in touch with him, built his hopes up of staying in touch and then... nothing.

What was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to just be the girl that Tony used to forget? She couldn't do it.

That wasn't who Alexandria Black was.

Alexandria Black was the person that had guys hanging on her every word, took no prisoners and only did what she wanted to do. She did not get used. [Al- whoah.. || Anna - okay, maybe a little more me than you, minus the guys hanging on every word bit.]

"Allie?"

She turned to see Abby stood behind her, twisting her hands in front of her. "Yeah, Abby?"

The forensic expert approached her, resting against the sinks, looking concerned.

"You okay?"

"I keep thinking about Ziva." It was not the whole truth, but near enough to make her not feel guilty in not confiding in the bubbly, happy goth.

"I should probably explain, huh?" Abby hopped onto the side, swinging her platform-booted feet. "I won't lie. She and Tony had something. But when she left, she made a promise to keep in touch. And she didn't. And I think Tony's struggling; he wants to move on, get on with his life but he can't let go of the past, what he used to feel for Ziva."

"I can understand that... it's just I've never met the woman, I've known Tony since I was a rookie, and seeing him like this... It just gets to me." She admitted. "At least Ziva's not _here_. If she was, I'd probably end up in hospital from trying to beat her ass."

"Yeah, then in that case you'd end up in the morgue, 'cos she'd kill you." Abby shot back quickly.

"Can't help it. I've known him for _years..._ It's just infuriating." Allie grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.

Abby sighed. "Listen... I don't know what went on between you and Tony way back when, but I can tell you now that Gibbs will not like it if you start it up. He has a rule against it."

Allie thought about how she wasn't really concerned about what happened way back when, more like what had happened just now. "He has a rule against dating co-workers?"

"Yeah. Never date a co-worker."

"Well _that _figures." She muttered. "You know what? When I moved to NCIS, I thought I was getting a fresh start. The FBI didn't work out so well for me, and I thought that being here... I could just be Allie. _Me. _But... I'm starting to think this was all a mistake. Maybe I should just go back to California. I had to put up with so much bullshit working homicide with those guys... I was the only woman in the unit, and they made sure it was known. But in the end, I got the job done, and they gave me respect. I was better off there than I am here... how can I stand just filling in for some girl who quite frankly, seems like a bit of a bitch with how she's treated everyone, and know I can never be as good?" Allie's breath hitched, tears glistening in her eyes. She rubbed them away furiously, turning back to face the mirrors. Carefully, she ensured her make-up was intact, and straightened up, heading back for the door.

Abby watched her go in silence. Sometimes, it didn't matter what you said to someone when they hit the nail exactly on the head.

[Al- I love these square bracketsss...anyway, I agree with Abby there || Anna - well, duh. you are Allie!!]

* * *

Tony caught Allie's arm as she passed him. "Look, Al-"

"Don't." She said quickly. "Look, I know that the kiss... that was what you should have done with Ziva, not me. I'm just... the replacement, and that's not me, Tony. You know that." She took a deep breath.

He set his jaw. "You weren't a replacement." But he couldn't meet her eyes.

She smiled sadly. "Look, I came here to work. Let's just both do our jobs, huh? It's the best way."

* * *

[Al- Well, it didn't need much doing in the way of editing really to be honest...]

Okay, folks. Review!! ... and don't hold any of Allie's comments as mine... She can be a little crazy sometimes...


	10. Chapter 10

_God, I know. A year, pathetic. But it's been a bad year for AllieInspiration. So, hope this will do for a bit. Also, my editor (TR Allie) is MIA in my life for the most part, so this will have to do for you._

_Reviews are love, and hope you have as much fun in the BLOODY COLD as Allie does! me, not so much. Have to walk up and down many a'hill. Cross your fingers, launch yourself at the ice and pray you don't break anything..._

_Happy December! Anna :)_

* * *

**2 Months Later...**

Allie rubbed her hands together in the drafty coffee shop, trying to gether enough friction to warm her hands slightly. The coldest day of the year so far, and she'd forgotten her gloves. The line for coffee was long, she was already late and Gibbs was going to hang her out to dry. And to top it all off, there was snow. Snow meant ice, and ice was Allie's biggest nemesis - her height meant there was further to fall, and grace in the cold was not her strongest point.

The girl behind the counter handed her a coffee with a sympathetic smile. "There ya go. Have a nice day, now."

Allie grimaced in return, heading out of the coffee shop, the styrofoam cup clasped tightly in her hands. She made it four steps, before her feet skidded out from under her, and she slipped down the ramp. But instead of the hard floor swinging up to meet her, a pair of strong arms grasped her tightly, hauling her to her feet. She sucked in a breath, partially grateful that her coffee had not spilt.

She turned to face her knight in... jeans and a black jacket. His hair was dark and curly, a pair of frameless glasses sat on his nose, a slight smile on his face. "You alright?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled at him. "Uh... thank you... My name's Allie."

"Jack." The man grinned. "I take it winter isn't your favourite season?"

"Not really." Allie laughed. "You should see me try to ice-skate." (Anna - Not kidding. Allie ice skating? NOT PRETTY! She nearly dislocated my shoulder...)

"I'd like that," Jack said, a blush creeping across his face.

Allie took him in. He was taller than she was, at 6'0'', with heavyset shoulders. He might've played football in college. Not bad looking, and he _had _just saved her from falling on her ass. "Maybe." She smirked, holding out her hand. "Cellphone?"

He dropped a phone into her hand, matching her smirk. She programmed her number into his phone and handed it back, turning on her heel. "If you don't call, I won't be waiting up for you!" Allie called back over her shoulder. She could have sworn she heard Jack laugh before she left, and smiled.

* * *

McGee regarded her apprehensively as the redhead unclipped her weapon, locking it in the top drawer of her desk. "Someone's looking happy..."

"I almost fell, but didn't spill a drop of coffee." She grinned, dropping the now-empty cup into the trash can, avoiding his curious gaze.

Tony leaned forwards. "I know that look!"

Allie froze, suddenly uncomfortable with Tony knowing anything about Jack; although they'd put their little... encounters behind them, and managed to get along as easily as before, a good team, she still didn't want to draw attention to her dating life. Not that she had much of a choice, it would seem.

"So, what's he like?"

She sat down heavily, tapping at her computer screen before replying. "He's... nice. His name's Jack." Concentration flitted across her face as she tapped something into her computer, obviously wanting her colleagues to drop the subject.

Tony, however, had other ideas. "Tall, short, handsome, charming, fat, thin, kind of an ass cos I know you like that..."

She glared at him, throwing her stapler at his head. He ducked just in time, but her point had been quite successfully made. "Anthony Dinozzo, not only is it none of your buisness, but this is also work, so if you do not back the hell out of my personal buisness, I will kick your ass."

McGee snickered into his coffee cup, suddenly very grateful that Allie had joined the team. After three months, she'd successfully straightened out Tony's childish ways, resorting to throwing various stationery at him when he messed around, telling him that since Gibbs made them all stay 'till he was done, and she had better things to do on a Friday than watch he juvenile partner screw up his paperwork. "Hey, Al - you coming to the bar next week? You could, ah, bring Jack."

She smiled at her colleague. "Sure, Tim. Maybe Tony could prove that he can land himself a hot chick, too." Allie tossed an evil grin across the bullpen.

Tony pulled a face at her. "Awesome. I'll invite Ariana. Old old girlfriend, but she wants to see me again."

"Really?" she looked surprised. "Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose."

"Ha, cute."

"Who is, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as he strode to his desk, draingng the last of his coffee and dropping the polystyrene cup in the wastebasket.

"Uh, Annie, boss. Little orphan kid, red hair, big voice-" He stopped short, glaring at Allie, who ignored him completely. "Anything today?"

"Sure." He clipped his SIG onto his waistband, straightening up. "Some idiot smuggled a damn dog onto a battleship."

"Can't they just kick it off?" Allie muttered.

"Well they would, Black, but he's found fourty grams of cocaine in the condiments. Turned out it was an ex-sniffer dog."

Allie laughed, before looking alarmed. "Wait... how high would you get eating the mash potatoes?"

Tony smirked. "Well, you'd have more fun than you've ever had..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Philly PD Christmas party 1997, when Thompson spiked the punch."

He froze, a strange look crossing over his face. "Oh... Um, yeah." He froze for a moment, mind flicking back to the party and the interesting events which occured. There was no disputing that Allie could be fun after that little incident...

McGee looked confused but shrugged on his jacket and picked up his rucksack, tossing it over his shoulder. "I'll gas the truck. Um... Alex, you want to help?"

Allie nodded, pulling the black baseball cap over her red hair. "Sure. See you in five, Gibbs."

* * *

Once they were alone, McGee held out a hand, stopping Allie in her tracks. She put a hand on her hip, tilting her head to one side. "Alex?"

He shrugged. "Tony calls you Allie, seemed like a petname. I figured that Alex is short of Alexandria, so whatever. I can call you Allie if you'd like."

She laughed slightly. "It's fine. I like Alex. It's... sophisticated."

"Alex... I don't know you all that well. I mean... we've worked together a few months, but I don't _know _you-"

"I went to boarding school for most of my high school time, except senior year, when I transferred to a public school because my mom died. Killed, actually. Which is why I wanted to be a cop. Didn't join a sorority at College, majored in Criminal Psychology. I have two older brothers, and a kid sister. She's sixteen. She was only a kd when mom died. Now you know me." she replied quietly, a kind smile on her face. She wasn't trying to patronise him, or hide who she was... it just didn't factor into work.

"Look... what's up with you an' Tony?" McGee asked after a moment. "It's just... these past couple of months... he's looked at you kind of... I don't know how to explain it. Like you're the centre of his world - not in a cheesy way, but because whenever he's not sure or something he looks at you. When you move, he moves around you. Like you're in synch. Dunno."

Allie blushed slightly. "Tim... Back in Philly... He and I flirted, like always. There were a few times when it could've turned into something, then it didn't. Here... he's too hung up on Ziva for anything to happen, if I'm honest. I wouldn't want to be the back-up."

McGee nodded. "I get it. I'm not trying to pry, or gossip. I just... I don't want you to get hurt. I care, you know? We're friends."

Allie beamed at him. "Really?"

"Of course."

She looped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly before planting a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, McGee. Means a lot."

He smiled. "Tony was right, you do smell nice."

"Vanilla." she smiled to herself. "I used to wear different perfumes, but someone told me that this was their favourite. I've sort of worn it since. C'mon, we'd better get going before Gibbs eats us alive."

McGee watched Allie go, sighing. He didn't need to ask who the guy was who chose her perfume. He had a feeling that he was well aquainted with him already.


End file.
